I'm also a big McCarthy fan. The Road is jaw-dropping. Blood Meridian is jaw-dropping as well (and so incredibly dense!). I really liked No Country For Old Men, and look forward to the Coen bros. film version. I own the Border Trilogy and will try to read them sometime this year.

Great write-up; my appetite is now even more whetted--I've got "The Road" and "All the Pretty Horses" on my shelf, awaiting my attention. I read "No Country" some time ago and 'blogged my impressions (with possible spoilers) here. I was intrigued and disturbed by the book; the imagery of the last couple of paragraphs is so vivid that, even now, it stands clearly before my mind's eye. I look forward to reading more Mccarthy.

It doesn't look like there has been much activity on this topic other than Buckeye's comment from a couple of months ago. I have not read any of Cormac Mccarthy's work, but I am hoping to over the Holidays. My question for any of you is, what is a good one to start with? I was actually leaning towards Blood Meridian after reading a review a few months ago and reading some of the comments on the dedicated thread from Buckeye, but when I looked it up at the bookstore, I thought I saw something about it being part of a trilogy. If that is the case, I didn't know if I needed to read something else in order to get the background before jumping into this one. Any suggestions on what would be a good first read from this author would be appreciated.

Though I'm a fan of McCarthy, I've not read all of his works and might not be able to give you the best answer. That said, Blood Meridian might be a rough start. Yes, it's unlike anything I've ever read (or ever will read, probably), it's pretty daunting to get through. It's a shaky comparison, but it's almost like being unfamiliar with Joyce and starting with Finnegan's Wake (instead of, say, The Dubliners or Portrait of the Artist...).

Also, the trilogy of books doesn't include Meridian, but All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing and Cities of the Plain. Those might worth starting with. Maybe Suttree? I've not read it, but a few friends have and loved it. My vote, though, is for The Road. I feel like it sums up his career themes well.